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A review by unfetteredfiction
Native Son by Richard Wright
5.0
“He felt naked, transparent; he felt that this white man, having helped to put him down, having helped to deform him, held him up now to look at him and be amused.”
- Richard Wright, Native Son
“One of the reasons Richard Wright’s Native Son remains an enduring classic is because while the racial power structure outlined in the book has evolved over the years it’s basic underpinnings remain recognisable even eighty years later.”
- Gary Younge
An unforgettable and compelling book that taught me more about black history than I ever learnt at school.
Bigger Thomas lives in the slums of Chicago. Even before he was born he was hated, and he feels that hate every day of his life. Everyone he knows is struggling, his life and relationships are violent. He wants to live in a way that makes him feel alive, and when his world collides with that of the affluent Dalton family, tensions are unbearable.
This book confronts racial stereotypes and bursts with emotion. I cried reading it and imagine a lot of other people have too. As Younge mentions, we aren’t yet past the world of Bigger Thomas and Mr Dalton. It is unsettling and uncomfortable, but important to recognise.
- Richard Wright, Native Son
“One of the reasons Richard Wright’s Native Son remains an enduring classic is because while the racial power structure outlined in the book has evolved over the years it’s basic underpinnings remain recognisable even eighty years later.”
- Gary Younge
An unforgettable and compelling book that taught me more about black history than I ever learnt at school.
Bigger Thomas lives in the slums of Chicago. Even before he was born he was hated, and he feels that hate every day of his life. Everyone he knows is struggling, his life and relationships are violent. He wants to live in a way that makes him feel alive, and when his world collides with that of the affluent Dalton family, tensions are unbearable.
This book confronts racial stereotypes and bursts with emotion. I cried reading it and imagine a lot of other people have too. As Younge mentions, we aren’t yet past the world of Bigger Thomas and Mr Dalton. It is unsettling and uncomfortable, but important to recognise.